On Boundaries and mini forests

 

 

 

Hello Monitor readers,

As we are hearing, the month of July 2023 was Mother Earth’s hottest month on record, which followed the warmest month of June on record, too! This year has also experienced record numbers of mass shootings, hate crimes, stolen cars and car parts, and for sure petty and stupid robberies, and senseless acts of violence. It also seems like we have a recording number of lawmakers openly and boastfully gaslighting (psychological abuse in which a person or group causes someone to question their own sanity, memories, or perception of reality) and acting/behaving on fear (belief that someone or something is dangerous). 

On the other hand, I’m sure that we have been experiencing and witnessing a record number of good and positive things happening and/or being created. For instance, a record number of moviegoers, an increase in cities pledging and working towards green and clean technology, additional medical discoveries andcures, enhanced appreciation for cheerful engaging with folks of different cultures, and more community gardens being cultivated. 

However, we have a habit of hearing and focusing on the not good things. The good news is that a habit can change with patience and willing determination.

I recently read a social media post from the former Director of the Summit-University Planning Council. I considered Irna Landrum’s post a good message or definition for the word “boundary”: 

Yo, I have seen ENTIRELY too many people saying people have a right to their boundaries without knowing what a boundary is:

• a boundary is a line you draw around YOURSELF, where, if crossed, you have pre-emptively determined what your responses will be.

• a boundary is NOT a set of rules to impose upon another person’s clothing, colleagues, friends, or social media posts.

• a boundary is NOT an attempt to change another person’s behavior.

 

“I have found that your social media presence makes me feel a bit insecure so I am going to unfollow your accounts.” 

 

“I have found that your social media presences makes me feel insecure so you must change how YOU post to social media.” 

One is managing one’s own capacity. The other is controlling bs. 

Y’all out here calling WILDLY controlling and manipulative behavior boundary-setting and it’s upsetting me and my home girl.

Thank you, Irna for shedding light and clarifying the difference between managing one’s own capacity and controlling bs.

 

I’m still on my Mini-Forest education journey, and this month I’m very happy to share words directly from the author of the “Mini-Forest Revolution” book, Hannah Lewis:

The three hottest day on Earth every recorded happened last month - July 2023. With human-caused climate change happening in full force, heat records will just keep breaking as the years pass. In cities, that problem is intensified by all the concrete and asphalt, which absorbs the sun’s energy during the day and radiates it back out as heat day and night. 

Leaves, on the other hand, never get hot. That’s because they use the sun’s energy to release water vapor, similar to what our skin does when we sweat. Trees bring temperatures down in the space around them. A single mature tree has the cooling power of several air conditioners, and woody parts of cities can be as much as 18F cooler compared to nearby areas with no trees! 

Knowing that Frogtown and Rondo have fewer trees than average in St. Paul, a handful of community partners are exploring opportunities to plant ecologically robust “mini-forests.” These are dense, native “forests” that can be planted by kids and adults in the small spaces around where we live and work. A mini-forest can be as small as six parking spaces or much larger, and it can be any shape (circle, crescent, square, strip, or donut with a path to an interior space). A mini-forest is made up of the multiple native tree and shrub species that one would find growing at a given site if that land had never been cleared in the first place. 

The idea is to return at least a small patch of the land around us to its most natural state. And, when we do this, we cool the space around the mini-forest, and we help clean up polluted air and water. Healthy native vegetation and the soil beneath it also absorbs floodwater, and holds moisture through droughts (both flooding and drought are also becoming more common due to climate breakdown). Planting a mini-forest is also fun! When we come together as a community to heal the land, we open doors that connect us to nature and to each other. Planting a mini-forest is a chance to learn the names of trees, and observe a tiny ecosystem as it matures and attracts native insects and birds over the months and years that pass. 

Urban Farm and Garden Alliance, Renewing the Countryside, and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, in collaboration with valuable community partners like Frogtown Green, are reaching out to schools, churches, community gardens, private property owners, and others in the Frogtown, Rondo, and Hamline/Midway neighborhoods to find out where people would like to see a mini-forest planted. If you’re interested, please contact me at info@rtc.org or visit https://worldoftopia.com/mini-forest-revolution-miyawaki-method/. 

Thank you, Hannah!!!

Keep the good thoughts, stay optimistic, consider joining the mini forest revolution, and set your boundaries around yourself, where, if crossed, you have pre-emptively determined what your responses will be.

May Peace Be In the Rondo, Frogtown, Hamline/Midway, Como, and Surrounding Communities... May Peace Be In Our Homes & Communities… May Peace Prevail On Earth (MPPOE)!